U.S. trade panel - Tool chests from China, Vietnam harm U.S. makers

Reuters Staff

2 Min Read

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. International Trade Commission said on Friday it had made a final finding in a dumping investigation that imports of tool chests and cabinets from China and Vietnam were harming U.S. producers.

The decision paves the way for the U.S. Commerce Department to slap duties of up to 327 percent on the goods for a five-year initial period.

Last month, the Commerce Department found that tool chests imported from China and Vietnam were being dumped in the U.S. market, and announced prospective duties on the imports.

In a related case, the ITC found in January that U.S. manufacturers were being harmed by imports of tool chests from China that the Commerce Department had found were subsidized, locking in place countervailing duties.

In its announcement on April 5, the Commerce Department said tool chests manufactured by the Tongrun Single Entity (002150.SZ) in China would face antidumping duties of 97 percent, while imports from other Chinese producers would face duties of 244 percent.

Imports from Vietnam would face a duty of 327 percent, it said.

The case was brought by Waterloo Industries Inc of Sedalia, Missouri, a subsidiary of Fortune Brands Home & Security Inc (FBHS.N), which says it accounts for more than half the domestic production of tool chests and cabinets.

In 2016, the value of imports of tool chests and cabinets from China totalled $230 million (170 million pounds), while imports from Vietnam were valued at $77 million, Commerce data shows.

Reporting by David Alexander; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Bernadette Baum